Bentley ‘R’ Type fetches £ 123,600

H&H, Europe’s largest specialist historic car auction house, ended the year on a high, with yet another successful sale at the Pavilion Gardens, Buxton, where a number of new records for automobilia were set.

The star car, a concours-winning 1953 Bentley ‘R’ Type Drophead Coupé sold for a staggering £123,600. A Rolls Royce Silver Wraith Limousine of the same year was still more keenly fought over and eventually made well over the estimate at £43,000.

H&H consistently delivers top prices for popular classics, and in this sale a 1966 MGB Roadster and 1971 Jaguar V12 E-Type Roadster were among a number to exceed their estimates at £10,212 and £31,980 respectively.

An immaculately restored 1960 BSA Gold Star was, appropriately, the star of the motorcycle lots, finding a new home for £10,750.

The results for the 600+ lots of automobilia were the best yet achieved by H&H, and the automobilia sale total was £85,000. Highlights included a run of bound Motor Sport magazines being knocked down for £3,850, while a 1920s winged B bonnet mascot made over double its estimate at £687.50 – an amazing price. Among the many other treasures was a pencil sketch by none other than Ettore Bugatti. This also sold for well above its estimate at £396.

Said Managing Director Simon Hope, "This auction rounded off a most encouraging year for H&H. Like all our sales at Buxton, it attracted an excellent mix of museum, trade and private buyers from around the world, with bids received from as far afield as China, Pakistan and the United States."